Water-elevator.



E. P. HUME.

WATER ELEVATOR.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 31. I916.

Patented Sept. 11, 1917.

EDWARD P. HUME, OF MOORCROFT, WYOMING.

WATER-ELEVATOR.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 11, 1917..

Application filed July 31, 1916. Serial No. 112,352.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDWARD P. HUME, a citizen of the United States, residing at Moorcroft, in the county of Crook and State of Wyoming, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Water-Elevators, of which the following .is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

This invention relates to means for lifting water or other liquids and particularly to a water elevator of the endless belt type, the belt having thereon a plurality of buckets.

One object of the invention is to so con struct the'buckets that they may be mounted. upon the endless element concentrically thereto and yet permit the buckets to have a relatively large area without any undue enlargement or without any corresponding enlargement of the wheels or pulleys over which the endless element passes, thus permitting a relatively great volume of water to be lifted without necessitating the use of very large pulleys.

Still another object of the invention is the provision of means whereby the buckets, which are pivoted to the endless element,

. may be rotated from a plane at right angles to the line of movement of the buckets to a plane parallel to said line of movement upon the return or moving from the upper end of the flight to the lower end thereof, thus permitting the chamber through which the buckets return to be made relatively smalli provide in connection-with slotted buckets,

means mounted upon the tube or chamber through which jth'e buckets pass upward which means shall fill the slots in the buckets so as to prevent'the escape of water through i said slots, said means also acting to posi- "tively guide the buckets 1n their upward movement and also acting to guidethe chain or other endless element upon which the buckets are mounted and prevent its leaving the pulleys over which the endless element asses. Still another object is to provide in connection with the water chamber and return chamber of the elevator, and in connection with the slotted buckets mounted as above described, means for causing the positive rotation of the buckets from a plane at right angles to the line of movement of one flight of the endless element into a plane parallel to the line of movement so that the buckets may be returned through the return passage or chamber to the lower end of the flight.

Other objects will appear in the course of the following description.

One practical method of construction will be described and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which,

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the ele vator partly in section;

Fig. 2 is a front elevation of a bucket;

Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional view on the line 3--3 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4. is a fragmentary perspectiveview of the casing of the elevator partly in section; and

Fig. 5 is a transverse sectional View on the line 55 of Fig. 1.

The body of the elevator consists of two elongated chambers, one constituting what may be termed the barrel of the elevator or, in other words, the water chamber and the other constituting the return chamber, the Water chamber 6 being illustrated as below the return chamber 7 The barrel or chamber 6 is preferably circular from end to end and the rectangular return chamber 7 is positioned above and its ends are open to communicate with the cirfcular barrel. Adjacent the ends of the return chamber, there are enlarged portions 8 and 9, whose function will be described later. Disposed within the barrel 6, there is a longitudinally extending guide 10 which also fulfils another function which will be later stated. This guide 10 is preferably of such' width that its loyver edge is coincident with the central l'ohgitudinal axis of the circular barrel 6. This guide 10 may be secured to the wall of the circular flume in any convenient manner, no particular means being shown. The ends of this guide 10 are convexly curved so that they will be concentric to. the periphery of the sprocket wheels or pulleys 11 and 12, as indicated at 15 and 15*. I

The sprocket wheel 12 is mounted on the extended bearing strips 13, the bearing being indicated at 14. This bearing is spaced from the curved end 15 of the guide 10 so that the sprocket wheel will not contact with the end of the guide. This extended bearing may be secured to the guide 10 by the bolts 16. a

The sprocket wheel 11 is mounted upon a shaft 17 mounted in bearings 18 and 19. One end of this shaft 17 is extended and carries a pulley or driving element 20 and carried by the sprockets 11 and 12 is the chain 21 and pivotally mounted on the chain at spaced intervals'are the buckets 22. The buckets 22 are preferably circular in outline though not necessarily so and are formed with a radial slot 23 which extends from' the center to the circumference. At the inner end of this slot 23 is the pivotal connection 24: which operatively connects the buckets to the chain or belt 21.

The chamber 7, which is preferably rectangular in cross section is formed in its lower surface with a groove 25. The upper flight of the chain 21 is adapted to travel in this groove 25 when the buckets are returning in an inoperative position. The height of this rectangular chamber is such that it just provides room for the buckets 22 to pass through to the sprocket 12, when the buckets are lying in a position substantially parallel to the outer and lower walls of the chamber 7. Adjacent the upper entrance to this chamber 7 are disposed a pair of curved convergent fingers 26. These are secured to the bottom of the chamber 7 as shown in Fig. 4 and extend upward and toward the axial center of the barrel 6 and terminate slightly above the shaft 17. -As the buckets reach the upper end of their lower flight, the upper edge of the bucket on each side of the slot 26 will be engaged by these curved fingers and the bucket will be rotated to a position shown at the upper end of Fig. 1 and as the buckets continue to move around the sprocket wheel 23 they will be still further rotated by the fingers until they will be shifted into a plane parallel to the plane of the upper and lower walls of the chamber 7.

The enlarged portion 9 connected to the circular flume 6 is curved in profile so that the radius of its curvature will permit the buckets 22 to pass freely therein around the shaft 17 until the buckets 22 are moved to an inoperative position by means of the fin gers 26. The lower end of the barrel 6 is provided with an enlarged portion 8 whose curvature is such that the buckets may move to an operative position upon coming in contact with the water. The upper or enlarged portion 9 acts somewhat as an air chamber so as to provide a continuous movement of water upward as the buckets 22 are moved upward.

It will be seen that the guide 10 not only fulfils the function of a guide for the buckets and for the chain 21, but that it fills up the slot 23 so that very little, if any,

water which is being carried upward by the buckets would escape through this slot. It will also be seen that the slot 23 is necessary in order that the buckets may be mounted concentrically upon the endless element 21 and rotate around the relatively small pulleys or sprocket wheels at the upper and lower ends of the flight and to permit the buckets to rotate from their operative to their inoperative positions.

In practical operation, when power is applied to the driving elementv 20, the buckets 22 mounted on the chain 21 are carried upward in the barrel and downward through the return chamber. These buckets 22 fit sulfieiently snugly to the wall of the barrel 6 and to the guide 10 that practically all the water between any two of the buckets is carried to the upper end. These buckets are so thin that they occupy but little space and thus the water is caused to move upward in almost a solid stream. When the buckets reach the upper end of their travel, and pass around the sprocket 11, the fingers 26 come in contact with the portions of each bucket 22, on each side of the slot and above the point of pivotal connection of the bucket to the chain 21 so that the buckets are tilted to lie in a plane inclined to that of the chain 21. This reverses the buckets so that the slotted portion which before eX- tended upward, now extends downward, as shown in Fig. 1, and as the buckets continue to pass around the sprocket wheel or pulley 11, the depending portions of the buckets on each side of the slot are engaged by the fingers 26 and as these fingers extend down below the pivotal point of engagement with the buckets, the buckets will be still further turned into a position parallel to the upper flight of the chain. This is done in order that the buckets will not occupy much space in passing downward through the rectangular fine 7 and this not only lessens the fiow of water downward through the rectangular flume but renders the return passage or chamber 7 relatively small in cross sectional area, thus making the device more compact.

The chain 21 which carries the several buckets 22 travels upon the lower edge of the guide 10. The guide keeps the buckets in sliding engagement w1th the walls of the circular flume but offers little resistance to the upward passage of the water. The groove 25 formed in the rectangular flume 7 serves as a guide to maintain the chain or belt in alinement between the. sprocket wheels 11 and. '12. As the buckets 22 leave the rectangular flume 7 and start to pass around the sprocket wheel 12, and engage with the water, a slight vacuum is formed which tendsto assist the water in flowing upward.

It will be noted from Fig. 1 that as the buckets 22 approach the lower end of the upper flight, they will commence to turn slightly as the chain or endless element passes around the wheel 12 and as soon as they enter the water, the pressure of the water will tend to turn the buckets to the position shown at the lower end of Fig. 1 so that the buckets will be disposed at right angles to the line of the lower flight.

It will be seen that I have provided a pump or water elevator operating on the principle of the endless chain pumps and in which a water pipe or barrel 6 is provided and a return passage or chamber 7 is provided which passage or chamber is relatively small and may be made integrally with the barrel 6. It will further be seen that I have provided means whereby the buckets are rotated to a'position parallel to the line of movement of the upper flight of the endless chain or, in other words, that I provide means for feathering the buckets from moving downward. It is further to be noted that by my construction, I provide means whereby buckets having a relatively great diameter may be used and yet dispose these buckets concentrically to the endless chain and without the necessity of using very large sprocket wheels or pulleys or sprocket wheels having not only a large diameter but having relatively deep recesses to receive the buckets as they pass over the sprocket wheels, thus permitting the device to be made very compactly. Chain pumps having bucket disks mounted thereon have beenof course used for many years but in all of those known to me it has been neces-- sary to make the disks relatively small in order that the chain may pass over the sprocket wheels without unduly enlarging the diameter of the sprocket wheels. Furthermore, if large disks or buckets were used which did not feather in returning through the water, the. resistance to the movement of these buckets or disks would be relatively great. This is avoided in my construction. The device may be very cheaply made and has been found to be very eflicient n practice.

Minor changes in the form and details of construction may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of my invention, or the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described this invention, what is claimed is:

1. In a construction of the character de- ;;scribed, a barrel, wheels rotatably mounted -m said barrel, an endless element operating on said Wheels, one flight of the endless element extending longitudinally through the barrel, buckets fitting the interior cross section of the barrel, said buckets being slotted to straddle the endless element and the carrier wheels and being pivoted to the endless element, and means at the end of the forwardly moving flight of the endless element successively engaging the buckets and cansing the buckets to rotate relative to the endless element into a position parallel to the other flight of the endless element, with the slotted portions of the buckets extending reversely to the direction of movement of said last named flight.

2. In a mechanism of the character described, an endless element, wheels over which said element passes, spaced buckets on the endless element, each having a slot extending inward from one end toward the center of the bucket, the bucket being hinged to the element at the inner end of this slot, said buckets being disposed at right angles to the bucket during their passage along one flight of the endless element and with the slotted portions of the buckets extending toward the other flight, and means disposed at the forward end of the first named flight positively engaging the buckets and causing the rotation of the buckets relative to the endless element to a position parallel to the second named flight and with the slotted end of the bucket extending in a direction re- Verse to the direction of movement of the second named flight.

3. In a water elevator, an upwardly extending barrel, a return passage extending parallel to the barrel and communicating at its opposite ends therewith, an endless element having its lower flight disposed within the barrel and its upper flight in said passage, wheels over which the endless element passes at opposite ends of its flight, buckets pivotally mounted upon the endless element, and means for causing the buckets to take a position in planes at right angles to the line of movement of the endless element While the buckets are passing through the barrel and in planes parallel to the endless element when the buckets are passing through the return passage.

4. In a water elevator, an endless element, wheels over which the element passes, spaced buckets mounted on the endless element, each bucket having a slot extending inward from one edge to the center of the bucket and the buckets being pivoted to the endless element at the inner end of said slot, and means disposed at the end of one flight of the said element and in the path of movement of the buckets successively engaging the buckets and causing the buckets to take a position parallel to the endless element while passing along the other flight thereof and with the slotted portions of the buckets extending in a reverse direction to the movement of the last named flight.

5. In a water elevator, a barrel having a return passage communicating at its ends with the barrel. an endless element having one fli ht disposed in the barrel and the other fl ight disposed in said passage, wheels over which the endless element passes, the longitudinal axis of the barrel intersecting the peripheries of said Wheels, and spaced buckets mounted upon the endless element, each bucket having a slot extending inward from one edge to the center of the bucket and in line with the wheels, said slots permitting the passage of the buckets past and around the wheels.

6. In a Water elevator, a barrel having a return passage communicating at its ends with the barrel, an endless element having one flight disposed in the barrel and the other flight disposed in said passage, wheels over which the endless element passes disposed at the ends of said flights, buckets pivotally mounted upon the endless element, said buckets having an area approximately the same as the cross sectional area of the barrel and each bucket having a slot extending inward from its edge to its center, the bucket being pivoted to the endless element at the end of said slot and said slots being so disposed as to permit the passage of the buckets past and around the wheels, said return passage being rectangular in cross section and having a width approximately that of the buckets, and an interior thickness slightly greater than that of the buckets, and means disposed at the upper end. of the flight of said endless element for causing the buckets to rotate into the plane of the return passage as the buckets enter the return passage, said buckets rotating into a plane at right angles to the barrel as the buckets enter said barrel.

7. In a water elevator, a barrel having a return passage communicating at its ends with the barrel, an endless element having one flight disposed in the barrel and the other flight disposed in said passage, wheels over which the endless element passes disposed at the ends of said flights, buckets pivotally mounted upon the endless element, said buckets having an area approximately the same as the cross sectional area of the barrel and each bucket having a slot extending inward from its edge to its center, the bucket being pivoted to the endless element at the end of said slot and said slots being so disposed as to permit the passage of the buckets past and around the wheels, said return passage being rectangular in cross section and having a width approximately that of the buckets, and an interior thickness slightly greater than that of the buckets, and means disposed at the upper end of the flight of said endless element for causing the buckets to rotate into the plane of the return passage as the buckets enter the return passage, said buckets rotating into a plane at right angles to the barrel as the buckets enter said barrel, said means including a finger disposed at the upper end of the flight of the endless element and extending into the path of movement of the slotted portion of the bucket and acting to rotate the bucket to a half revoluion and to further rotate the bucket into the same plane as the return passage as the bucket moves around the adjacent wheel.

' 8. In a water elevator, an endless element, wheels over which the endless element passes, spaced buckets on this element, each bucket having a slot extending inward from one edge to the center of the bucket, a barrel through which the buckets pass in one direction, a longitudinally extending member mounted in the barrel in line with the slotted portions of the buckets, said member preventing the passage of water through said slotted portions, the slots in the buckets permitting the passage of the buckets past and around the supporting wheels for the endless element, and means disposed at one end of the travel of the endless element through the barrel and in the path of movement of the bucket causing a rotation of the buckets relative to the endless element to thereby dispose the buckets as they move along the other flight of the endless element in a position parallel to said flight and with their slotted portions extending in a direction reverse to the directionof movement of said last named flight.

9. In a water elevator, a barrel having areturn passage communicating at its ends with the barrel, an endless element having one flight disposed in the barrel and the other flight in the passage, wheels disposed at the outer and lower ends of said flights and over which the endless element passes, the Wheels being so disposed that the longitudinal axis of the barrel is coincident with the peripheries of the wheels, and said wheels acting to guide the endless element into and out of the return passage, a plurality of buckets pivotally mounted upon the endless element, each of said buckets having a slot extending inward from one edge to the center of the bucket, the bucket being pivoted to the endless element at the inner end of the slot, said slots, when the buckets are moving upward through the barrel, being directed toward the return passage, a member having the form of a guide and attached to the wall of the barrel in line with said slots andfilling the slots as the buckets pass upward to thereby prevent the return flow of water through the slots and also guiding the buckets in their upward movement, and means adjacent the upper wheels supporting the endless element acting to rotate the buckets from a position at right angles to the endless element to a posltion parallel thereto as the buckets pass around said wheel into the return passage.

10. A water elevator including a circular chute or flume, a return chute or flume substantially rectangular in cross section communicating with and adjacent to the circular chute, an endless belt including pivotally mounted buckets operable in said chutes, the buckets passing through the chutes lying in different positions.

11. A water elevator of the endless belt type comprising a plurality of spaced circu ar-disks pivotally mounted thereon, said belt passing through the disks near their centers, a circular fiume or chute, a rectangular fiume or chute communicating with and adjacent the circular fiume, the disks in moving through the circular fiume serving as buckets to lift a fluid.

12. A water elevator including an endless belt having a plurality of buckets pivotally carried thereon, a plurality of spaced driving and driven elements, means to operatively connect the driving element for imparting rotation thereto, each of said buckets being approximately circular in out line and having a slot formed therein, so that the belt may be disposed centrally of the bucket, and means to Vary the position of the buckets.

In testimony whereof I hereunto aflix my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

EDWARD P. HUME.

Witnesses:

G. NooNAN, D. R. SHACKLEFORD. 

